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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Russian and Ukrainian forces are battling for the control of Donbas more than three months since Russian troops began invading the country. The Russians have relied on their superior artillery systems that possibly have a longer range than those possessed by the Ukrainian forces.
But make no mistake – the Ukrainian military is fighting back even more vigorously than military analysts had predicted. The Ukrainian government had long requested for long range artillery to help them combat the relentless artillery fire coming from enemy forces.
But the weapons are slow to arrive and this makes the
situation even more disturbing. Both sides are not giving up just as the
Russians are fighting hard to grab more lands to strengthen their negotiating
power as in Crimea which was recently annexed by Mr Putin. The Ukrainians are
fighting hard knowing that they could no longer afford to lose more lands to
the Russians.
Russian backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian
forces since 2014 in the Donbas region. It is a region of mines and factories
and today the Russians have turned their attention here after their defeat in
Kyiv and the second largest city of Kharkiv.
Russia is making a slow but steady progress in the Luhansk
and Donetsk regions that make up the Donbas, controlling more than 95% of Luhansk
and about half of Donetsk, according to AP.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the combat
situation was “extremely difficult,” using a reference to an ancient deity of
sacrifice by saying: “The Russian Moloch has plenty of means to devour human lives
to satisfy its imperial ego,” AP reports.
At the moment Russian forces control the entire Sea of Azov
coast, including the strategic port of Mariupol, the entire Kherson region – a key
gateway to Crimea and a large part of the Zaporizhzhia region which could help
the Russians to push even deeper into Ukraine.
Mr Putin promised Thursday that, “our lot is to take back
and consolidate” historic Russian lands. He was drawing parallels between the Ukrainian
conflict and the 18th century wars with Sweden championed by Peter the Great.
Mr Putin said early this year before the conflict that Ukraine does not exist
and was a part of Russia.
The west is planning to deliver multiple rocket launchers to
Ukraine in addition to the heavy weapons it had already delivered to the
country. Russia had earlier warned it would hit harder into areas it spared in
Ukraine if the country uses long range artillery to hit targets on Russian
soil.